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Tiger Dedication.

Probably old news to some but I thought this was cool - in Anthony Burgess' Time for a Tiger, the first book in The Malayan Trilogy, there is a dedication. This is unique not only because the other two books in the trilogy don't have dedications but this particular one is written in jawi.

It says:
Kepada sahabat2 saya di Tanah Melayu
which means:
To my friends in Malaya
I'm ashamed to admit that Burgess's jawi penmanship is better than mine.

Also, I found this highly amusing. Overleaf from the dedication is a disclaimer which states:
The Malay state of Lanchap and its town and inhabitants do not really exist.
One of the meanings of the word "lanchap" in Malay is "masturbate". Tee hee! Other meanings include "slippery" or "saying something without meaning to, or by accident" but that's not as immature or funny.
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Comments

  1. bibliobibuli6/9/06 10:50 am

    i was going to blog exactly this!! i even scanned the dedication into my computer with its english translation

    childish jokes indeed and i love 'em. i lived in kuala hantu and was a member of the good old iblis club. i travelled to tahi panas at weekends.

    have been rereading some of my favourite bits and falling in love with the book more than ever.

    i asked kino yesterday about the UK and US editions. we can still order the latter 'cos no-one has cottoned on to the different names yet!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun6/9/06 11:38 am

    Ooh! If I knew I would've let you posted it up first. At least you've got the scan for yours... hehe

    Where is Tahi Panas supposed to be? Am now reading Interpreter of Maladies. Will probably start on the Malayan Trilogy next.

    Haha... it's great that there's a workaround to the system! Thank goodness for different versions...

    ReplyDelete
  3. June7/9/06 8:04 am

    Dear Ted,

    there is only ONE meaning of Lanchap, rite?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ted Mahsun7/9/06 9:42 am

    Personally, I only need ONE meaning... hehe... but Dewan Bahasa in its infinite wisdom has sought to provide us with the other meanings.

    ReplyDelete

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